Device for cleaning shellfish

ABSTRACT

A device for cleaning shellfish consists of a chamber having two opposed brush disks, relatively moveable toward one another and at least one of the disks is rotatably driven.

The invention relates to a device for cleaning shellfish, such asmussels, oysters and/or scallops.

When they are gathered, produced or harvested, shellfish are coatedexternally with colonies and deposits of lower organisms, such as algaeand other such organisms, organic substances, such as mud and silt, andmineral substances, such as chalk and other incrustations. Before theyare processed for consumption, or alternatively before consumption, theymust therefore be cleaned.

According to the prior art, cleaning occurred previously be means of aprocess of brushing or scratching the undesired material off by hand.Being very time-consuming, this operation, because of its wage-intensivenature, is very costly. Because of the length of time and high costsinvolved, there was, more particularly in the hotel trade and in "hautecuisine" restaurants, an increasing tendency to refrain from offeringsuch small shellfish.

In order to make it possible to offer shellfish in spite of the aboveand to reduce the costs incurred in cleaning them, there has also been achangeover to the practice of cleaning shellfish chemically. Thisentailed immersing the shellfish in a cleansing lye, and stirring themaround at varying intervals in this cleansing lye in order to allow thecleansing lye to reach all parts of the outer surface of the shellfish.Even if the shellfish are rinsed off with water after such chemicalcleaning, considerable doubts nonetheless exist regarding this cleaningmethod from the point of view of foodstuffs legislation and that ofkeeping the foodstuffs free from harmful substances, apart from the factthat it is impossible to avoid impairing the taste.

The invention is based on the task of creating a device for cleaningshellfish allowing for a cleaning operation which does not involvesubstantial labour and personnel costs, which is therefore inexpensiveand thus makes it possible once again to offer shellfish for consumptionand enjoyment at an acceptable price, and which is characterized by theabsence of any active chemical ingredients. According to the invention,this task is solved by means of a device which is provided with achamber designed to accommodate a quantity of shellfish, twoapproximately opposite walls of the chamber comprising brush wheelswhich can be moved in their planes in relation to one another, at leastone of the brush wheels being provided with a motor, and one input andone output port being provided for rinsing fluid, or else--as analternative--instead of one of the brush wheels, or instead of at leastone of its bristle-bearing sections, rolling elements are provided,having working surfaces longitudinal to the other brush wheel, it beingpossible for the rolling elements to consist of rubber fingers, flexiblefingers and/or blades/shovels. It is contrived by virtue of thisarrangement that, as a consequence of the relative motion of the brushwheels, or alternatively of the brush wheel on the one hand and thebrush sections and rolling elements on the other hand, the shellfish arecirculated and rubbed against one another and simultaneously brushed offin quantities and thus, as has already been proved in practice, cleanedvery intensively. Practically only pure water, such as drinking water,is suitable for use as rinsing fluid, which serves only to rinse off andaway loosened impurities. Seawater can, of course, also be used, in somecases advantageously. In the case of mussels, the device can also serve,through the action of the bristles, to remove the greater part of theso-called beards, a process which it has hitherto been necessary tocarry out by hand for each individual mussel.

In the case of embodiments according to the invention, the brush wheels,or alternatively the one brush wheel and the rolling elements, aremounted in such a way that they can be moved up and down in relation toone another and are subjected to pressure, or alternatively one of thebrush wheels, having freedom of movement in the vertical plane, acts onthe other brush wheel under the force of gravity, serving further toincrease the brushing, frictional and rotating effect of the device.

A further increase in the effectiveness of the device according to theinvention is achieved by arranging sections with various bristle lengthsalternately on at least one of the brush wheels, and arranging thesesections of varying bristle lengths alternately, predominantly in thedirection of (relative) motion.

Advantageous embodiments of the device are characterized in that thelength of the relatively short bristles is 1-2 cm and the length of therelatively long bristles exceeds the length of the short bristles byapproximately 1 cm, and/or that the bristles are made from acorrosion-resistant material, and preferably from a brass.

A variation on the device is characterized by an embodiment according tothe invention of simple design, the brush wheels, or, where applicable,a wheel bearing the rolling elements, being designed essentially asrotating bodies, the cylindrical space thus existing between the brushwheels being enclosed by a hollow cylindrical sleeve, forming thechamber laterally, with clearance in relation to the brush wheels, andthe motor being a three-phase AC motor. Thus, the device is designedadvantageously in such a way that--in the operational position--itexhibits a vertical axis, that the lower brush wheel is motor-driven andthat the upper brush wheel is guided by means of a non-turn, verticalslide arrangement and--for the purpose of loading and removing theshellfish--can be removed from above, and further such that the sectionsare designed and disposed in a sector formation with short and longbristles.

In a further embodiment of such a device according to the invention, atleast one of the brush wheels exhibits at its edge a crown-shapedsection having bristles longer than the other bristles, with the resultthat shellfish arriving at the edge of the brush wheel are moved upwardsand further inwards.

In the case of a device in which the chamber takes the form of a hollowcylinder and the brush wheels are designed essentially as rotatingbodies, the cylindrical inner wall is fitted, according to the inventionand to particular advantage, with bristles, and/or the motor-drivenbrush wheel is driven alternately in a clockwise and counter-clockwisedirection. These measures make it possible to clean the shellfish moreintensively and therefore in some circumstances more quickly, the firstof them in particular having proved especially effective in removing thebeards when cleaning mussels.

In embodiments according to the invention the brushes are arranged on ahollow cylindrical assembly, which is divided advantageously andcomprises a number of hollow cylindrical inserted sections, preferablythree inserted sections. This particular measure facilitates themanufacture, cleaning and replacement of the bristle holder. Finally, itis also possible by this means to fit bristle holders and/or insertedsections with various bristle arrangements in order to clean theshellfish.

Furthermore, in order to fix the inserted sections, ribs are disposed onthe inner drum wall, at least one of which advantageously contains anaxially disposed guide groove designed to accommodate on anti-turndevice, which is located on the removable brush wheel.

In the case of direct drive, the motor can advantageously be driven inboth directions alternately.

Moreover, it is proposed that the brush wheel is rotated at a speed of100-300 n/min. and further, that the input port for the rinsing fluidcomprises a jet which is directed into the chamber and that this jetacts in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of themotor-driven brush wheel in each case, the jet pointing in a basicallytangential direction, and finally that the motor is fitted with anadjustable time switch.

The drawing illustrates schematically the essence of the invention withreference to different embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a lateral, sectional view of a device for cleaning shellfish

FIG. 2 is a top view of the lower brush wheel of the device, and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another device for cleaning shellfish.

According to FIGS. 1 and 2, a device for cleaning shellfish comprises adrum-shaped housing 1 having a hollow cylindrical sleeve 10, two bases11 and 12 and a removable cover 13, basically comprising, however, achamber 15 designed to accommodate a quantity of shellfish, two oppositewalls of which are designed as rotating bodies, and can be moved intheir planes in relation to one another, and the chamber 15 beingenclosed laterally, with clearance in relation to brush wheels 2 and 3,by a hollow cylindrical sleeve in the form of the inner wall 14 of thehousing 1. The lower brush wheel 2 is driven by a motor 4, havingswitching elements 40, via a V-belt drive 41. The upper brush wheel 3 isguided vertically in an axial direction (arrows) in guide rails 16 andcan be removed from the housing 1 from above by means of its hand grip30. The device is further provided with an input port 50, having aconnector nipple 51 and a jet 52, and an output port 55 for the rinsingfluid, this being pure water.

Sections having different bristle lengths are disposed on the brushwheels 2 and 3, sections 21, 31 being designed and arranged in a sectorformation with short bristles and sections 22 ,32 with comparativelylong bristles, alternating in the direction of movement/rotation (FIG.2).

In order to clean the shellfish, a quantity of these are loaded into thechamber 15 and the rinsing-mechanism and the motor 4 are actuated. Thebrush wheel 3 rests with its own weight on the shellfish. These are nowrotated briskly and brushed off as a result of the relative motion ofbrush wheels 2 and 3, and, in the case of mussels, the boards areremoved.

According to FIG. 3, a drum-shaped housing 81 contains a hollowcylindrical chamber 82, also referred to as the cleaning chamber, whichnext to its cylindrical inner drum wall 83 is enclosed or can beenclosed by a brush wheel 84 and a brush wheel 85--shown in a raisedposition.

The inner drum wall 83 is fitted with bristles, more particularly in theform of a hollow cylindrical assembly, this being divided up into hollowcylindrical inserted sections, which are fitted with bristles and heldin a circumferential direction by means of ribs 87, disposed on theinner drum wall 83. The ribs 87 incorporate guide grooves 871 for ananti-turn device 851, which is mounted on the brush wheel 85.

The lower area of the device (shown in part only) contains a motor forthe brush wheel 84, the requisite switching elements, including aninterval switch 89 for alternating operation in both directions ofrotation, viz. of the motor and thus of the brush wheel 84.

The inserted sections 86 are pushed in between the ribs 87 from above.They are therefore easily retracted from above, facilitating cleaningand/or replacement as applicable.

The rinsing fluid is understood to be clean water, such as mains, i.e.fresh water or else sea, i.e. salt, water, which is fed in a mannerwhich is not described further through the chamber 82, it being possibleto mount the input port as a jet in the lower part of a rib 87. Thebristle panel of the brush wheel 84 can in a similar manner to that ofinserted sections 86 be composed in a sector formation of sectionsprovided with corresponding mounts.

It is understood that a great many different embodiments are possiblewithin the conception of the invention. Thus the brush arrangement canbe made up of a backwards- and forwards-moving carriage, or else of anumber of different individual brushes, moved in opposing directions, orat least in different fashions. The corrosion-resistant material fromwhich the bristles are made can be stainless steel wire, straight bracewire, or else plastic, such as polyamide, the use of natural bristlesnot being excluded.

We claim:
 1. Device for cleaning shellfish comprising a chamber (15) foraccommodating a quantity of shellfish, the chamber having twoapproximately opposite walls that are comprised of substantially planar,bristle-bearing brush wheels (2,3) which can be moved in their planes inrelation to one another, at least one of the brush wheels (2) beingequipped with a motor (4) for rotation thereof relative to the otherbrush wheel, the chamber including at least one input port (50) and oneoutput port (55) for a rinsing fluid.
 2. Device as per claim 1, whereinone of the brush wheels is further comprised of rolling elements havingworking surfaces longitudinal to the other brush wheel.
 3. Device as perclaim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the brush wheels (2,3) can beforced towards each other under pressure.
 4. Device as per claim 3,characterized in that one of the brush wheels (3), having freedom ofmovement in a vertical plane, acts on the other brush wheel (2) underthe force of gravity.
 5. Device as per claim 1, further includingsections (21,31; 22,32) of varying bristle lengths that are arrangedalternately on at least one of the brush wheels (2,3).
 6. Device as perclaim 5, characterized in that the sections (21,31; 22,32) of varyingbristle lengths are arranged alternately, predominantly in the directionof relative motion.
 7. Device as per claim 5 or claim 6, characterizedin that the length of the relatively short bristles is 1--2 cm and thelength of the relatively long bristles exceeds the length of the shortbristles by approximately 1 cm.
 8. Device as per claim 1 wherein atleast one of the brush wheels includes bristles that are made from acorrosion-proof material.
 9. Device as per claim 1, characterized inthat the brush wheels (2,3) are rotating bodies that provide acylindrical space between the brush wheels (2,3) that is enclosed by ahollow cylindrical sleeve (inner wall 14), forming the chamber (15)laterally, with clearance in relation to the brush wheels (2,3), andthat the motor (4) is a three-phase AC motor.
 10. Device as per claim 9,characterized in that in an operational position the device has avertical axis, that the lower brush wheel (2) is motor-driven and thatthe upper brush wheel (3) is guided by means of a non-turn, verticalslide arrangement and can be removed from above for loading and removingshellfish from the chamber.
 11. Device as per claim 9, characterized inthat the sections with short bristles (21) and the sections with longbristles (22) are designed and disposed in a sector formation. 12.Device as per claim 9 or claim 11, characterized in that at least one ofthe brush wheels exhibits at its edge a crown-shaped section havingbristles longer than the other bristles.
 13. Device as per claim 9,wherein the chamber is further defined by a cylindrical inner drum wall(83) that is fitted with bristles.
 14. Device as per claim 13,characterized in that the motor-driven brush wheel (84) is at intervalsdriven alternately in a clockwise and counter-clockwise direction. 15.Device as per claim 13, characterized in that the bristles are arrangedon a hollow cylindrical assembly.
 16. Device as per claim 15,characterized in that the hollow cylindrical assembly is divided and iscomprised of a number of hollow cylindrical inserted sections (86). 17.Device as per claim 16, characterized in that ribs (87) are disposed onthe inner drum wall (83) in order to fix the inserted sections (86). 18.Device as per claim 17, further including an anti-turn device located onthe removable brush wheel, wherein at least one of the ribs (87)contains a radially disposed guide groove (871) to accommodate theanti-turn device.
 19. Device as per claim 9, characterized in that themotor can be driven in both directions alternately by means of aninterval switch (89).
 20. Device as per claim 9, characterized in thatthe motor-driven brush wheel (2) is rotated at a speed of 100-300 n/min.21. Device as per claim 1, characterized in that the input port (50) forthe rinsing fluid comprises a jet (52) which is directed into thechamber (15), and that this jet (52) acts in a direction opposite to thedirection of motion of the motor-driven brush wheel (2).
 22. Device asper claim 21, characterized in that the jet (52) essentially points in atangential direction.
 23. Device as per claim 1, characterized in thatthe motor (4) is fitted with an adjustable time switch.
 24. Device forcleaning shellfish comprising a chamber for accommodating a quantity ofshellfish, the chamber having two approximately opposite walls, one ofsaid walls being comprised of a substantially planar, bristle-bearingbrush wheel, the other of said walls being comprised of a substantiallyplanar, rolling element-bearing wheel, the rolling elements havingworking surfaces longitudinal to said brush wheel, the planar wheelscomprising said opposite walls being movable in their planes in relationto one another, at least one of the wheels being equipped with a motorfor rotation thereof, the chamber including at least one input port andone output port for rinsing fluid.